PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles seem to be able to score points whenever they want to.

To Riley Cooper, that’s also the problem. Even if it is the preseason there hasn’t been enough wanting.

In three preseason games the Eagles are averaging 31.3 points in spite of themselves. On Thursday they produced a 31-21 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field that wasn’t nearly as close as the score. It was the first time since last season they moved the ball consistently.

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At the same time the Eagles left points on the field due to dropped passes, poor passes, penalties and sometimes players just taking a tumble. And that bothers Cooper, who is totally in favor of blowouts.

“I feel like we could do a bit more and that we left some stuff out there,” Cooper said after hauling in three Nick Foles passes for 25 yards against the Steelers. “But we played well. Overall, it was a successful night. I think Nick played great and the offensive line protected very well. Overall, it was good.”

The Steelers game was the first time Cooper played in the preseason due to a sprained ankle. Wide receiver Jeremy Maclin also got returned to action catching a team-high six passes for 43 yards.

LeSean McCoy was available for just one quarter after jamming his right thumb. He rushed for 24 yards on four carries and caught two balls for 26 yards, including a 22-yard score.

Once again it was the tight end play that carried the offense. Brent Celek pulled in two balls for 42 yards, Zach Ertz two for 24 yards and rookie Trey Burton, two passes for 37 yards.

Cooper, who last year averaged 17.8 yards per grab, realizes the play-calling has been anything but exotic as the Eagles don’t want to show their hand. He also understands the importance of keeping key players healthy, including McCoy and Foles.

Nonetheless Cooper hoped to see some of the explosiveness the Eagles have been pointing toward since tweaking the offense and going in a different direction from DeSean Jackson, the Pro Bowl receiver they released.

“We have some of the most explosive players in the game,” Cooper, who caught eight touchdowns last year said. “We’ve got Jeremy Maclin, Darren Sproles, we’ve got LeSean. Those three guys right there are probably in the top 10 most explosive players in the league. They’re lightning fast. They’ve got great hands. They’ve got a great knack for the game. Those are two of the best running backs in the league. I feel like we’re going to be extremely explosive.

“Celek is looking really good. Ertz is playing great. He’s light years ahead of where he was last year, too. Everyone is just looking better so it’s very exciting. But you’ve got to put it together in games. You’ve got to put it together in preseason games. You can look as good as you want in practice but if you’re not putting it together in games it doesn’t matter.”

Cooper isn’t alone in those feelings. While Foles completed 19 of 29 attempts for 179 yards and a touchdown against the Steelers, he’s anything but satisfied going forward.

“This is our third preseason game and we got more reps tonight than we have in the previous two,” Foles said. “I definitely feel more comfortable. We still have a lot more room to improve and lot of film study to go over these next few weeks. But I feel good about today and I just want to keep improving.”

Kelly is unlikely to play starters in the preseason finale Thursday against the New York Jets at the Linc. The risk reward numbers are against exposing regulars to injury. That means another couple weeks of preaching the fundamentals. It gets old.

“I just think they’re not shooting themselves in the foot,” Kelly said of his offense. “They’re executing the way they’re capable of executing. I thought we ran the ball fairly well (versus the Steelers). We had a good mix. I think we got the ball spread around to different receivers. Our tight ends were instrumental for us. We got the ball out wide. Having (WR Cooper back obviously helped. He made a couple big catches on third down. Getting Mac back in there. So I see improvement.” Cooper sees the offense getting better, too. He just hates to see plays left on the field.